Insulated splicer cap



Dec. 28, 1965 s, N. BUCHANAN ET AL. 3,226,471

INSULATED SPLICER CAP Filed Aug. 10, 1962 0 ilmlllilIInlll! FIG. 5

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United States Patent O 3,226,471 INSULATED SPLICER CAP Stephen N. Buchanan, Westmoreland Hills, Md. (5141 Massachusetts Ave. NW., Washington, D.C.), and Walter S. Pawl, 10480 Powder Mill Road, Adelphi, Md.

Filed Aug. 10, 1962, Ser. No. 216,244 4 Claims. (Cl. 174-87) This invention relates to wire splicer cap and tool for splicing two or more Wires together. The present construction is considered to be an improvement on the splicer cap and tool disclosed in our pending application Serial No. 184,884, filed April 3, 1962, now abandoned, entitled Pigtail Splicer Cap and Tool.

The object of the present invention is to simplify the construction of splicer caps and tools and to improve their versatility for adaption to a wider range of Wire sizes as well as to increase the capacity of accommodation of a greater total cross section of Wires of any mixed types and sizes down to the smallest hair size without sacrificing pull'out power, contact pressure or compactness in any single size of caps.

A further object is to eliminate the requirement of the protective metal band on the outside of the plastic cap of the devices of the prior art by using a bending tool, as in the above-mentioned pending application.

Further and more specific objects will appear in the following detailed description of several modifications of the present invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein FIG. 1 is a front view, the cap being partly broken away and shown in section, exposing the conductor sleeve of one form,

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional View taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a similar view showing a modified form of cap having a corrugated inner surface,

FIG. 5 is a front view of the sleeve element removed from the cap,

FIG. 6 is a rear view of a modified form of sleeve element,

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of this sleeve element taken on the line 7-7 of FIG. 6, with a set of four wires inserted therein,

FIGS. 8 to 10 are rear views of three other forms of sleeve elements, shown in a reduced scale,

FIGS. 11 and 12 are side sectional views of a splicer cap assembly with wires therein, as it appears before and after bending, respectively, and

FIG. 13 is a side view in a reduced scale of a tool, showing how it is used to bend a cap assembly.

The cover member of the present invention is made of flexible insulating material having a iiattened tubular cap portion 22 closed at one end and a ared out enlarged skirt portion 24 at the other end. The cap portion is provided with a snugly fitting longitudinally slitted sleeve 26 of conducting material.

Sleeve 26 may be made of annealed sheet brass of suitable gage formed into a flattened tubular shape as shown, and may be provided at the base with a flared flange 28, the ends of the sheet being brought closed together in abutting relation 30 on one of the flat sides of the flattened tubular shape. The other at side is preferably slitted by substantially parallel spaced cuts 33 extending over the middle portion of the length of the sleeve. The cuts may extend axially of the sleeve, as in the forms shown in FIGS. 1 to 7, 9, 11 and 12, or they may extend at an angle to the axis of the sleeve, as in FIGS. 8 and 10.

The abutting ends of the sheet forming the sleeve may ice extend axially of the sleeve, as shown at 30 in FIGS. 1 to 5 and 10, or they may be interlocked against axial relative displacement as at 34 in FIG. 9, or against axial and circumferential displacement, as at 36 in FIGS. 6, 7, 11 and l2. All these edges in contact with the inner surface of the flexible cap material are rounded olir or curved inwardly as shown at 32 to prevent cutting into the cap.

The wire splicing operation is performed as follows: the wires 39 to be joined together, are stripped for a distance, equal to the length of the sleeve, from their ends, and the bare ends 41 are inserted into the sleeve side by side substantially the full length of the sleeve.

Bending pressure is applied at A, B and C across the Width of the cap by means of blunt edges of a bending tool, so as to bend the sleeve 26 without harming the insulating material, and to provide concentrated contact pressure between the inner crotch of the bent conductor sleeve and each of the wires across the width of the sleeve, the slitted strips being under a stretching stress over the outside of the bend, their slitted edges wrapping themselves around the wires and being drawn in, between the wires, toward the inner crotch, pressing down firmly any small wires between the larger wires against this inner crotch to maintain their concentrated contact pressure therewith after the tool is withdrawn. The joint thus made has better pull out resistance and higher contact pressure, and requires less deformation pressure than any crimp type splicer cap joint, because the bending operation does not require as much force as crimping, yet provides higher unit contact pressure, since it is concentrated sharply in the inner crotch with great leverage against the wires backed by the stressed outer side of the sleeve bend.

The bending operation is performed by a simple tool having movable jaws with blunt edges positioned to apply bending forces across the dat side of a splicer cap at A, B and C (see FIGS. 11 and 13). Rollers could be used at B and C. Altho the jaws shown are pivoted at 43, and have plier type handles 35 and 37, they could be operated to close and open by any other mechanical construction, either manually or by any power means.

FIG. 13 illustrates further a positioning stop 3S on one of the jaws to facilitate the proper location of the cap for making the bend. A pair of stripping jaws 40 and a pair of cutter jaws 42 may be incorporated in the handles for cutting and stripping the proper length at the end of wires to be inserted in the cap. A wire 44 is `shown in position for being cut-off by the jaws 42 and stripped by the stripper jaws 4t), which also serve as a stop when the tool is used in the cap bending operation to limit the bend to a suitable angle. Thus a single simple tool may be made for cutting when necesary, and stripping the wires and bending the cap assembly, without changing the hand grip on the tool handles in the palm of one hand.

Many obvious modifications not specically illustrated may obviously be made in the detail design and arrangement of parts of the device here disclosed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, as defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An electrical connection comprising a wire splicer cap which comprises a flattened tubular member of flexible insulating material closed at one end, a strip of d-uctile conductive material bent into a sleeve element positioned around the inside surface of said tubular member, said sleeve element having a plurality of substantially parallel slits therein which are spaced from each other, and a plurality of wires to be connected having bared ends extending into the sleeve element Within the insulating tubular member in a direction substantially parallel to the axis of said sleeve, said cap and the wires being sharply bent along a line across the width of said cap and transverse to the axis of said sleeve and the length of said wires, a concentrated high unit pressure electrical contact existing between the wires and the conductive sleeve element and the edges of the material of the sleeve at said slits biting into the wires and securely mechanically and electrically connecting the wires.

2. A wire splicer cap as claimed in claim 1 in which the slits extend axially of the sleeve element.

3. A wire splicer cap as claimed in claim 1 in which the slits extend at an angle to the axis of the sleeve element.

4. An electrical connection comprising a wire splicer cap which comprises a flattened tubular member of ilexible insulting material closed `at one end, a strip of ductile conductive material bent into a sleeve element positioned around the inside surface of said tubular member, said sleeve element having a joint therein and having the ends of the strip of conductive material joined to complete the sleeve element, the ends of said strip at said joint being straight and lying at an acute angle to the axis of the sleeve element, and a plurality of wires to be connected having bared ends extending into the sleeve element within the insulating tubular member in a direction substantially parallel to the axis of said sleeve, said cap and the wires being sharply bent along a line across the width of said cap and transverse to the axis of said sleeve and the length of said wires, a concentrated high unit pressure electrical contact existing between the wires and the conductive sleeve element and the edges of the ends of said strip biting into the wires and securely mechanically and electrically connecting wires.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 534,299 6/1897 weiden 174-87x 1,343,251 6/1920 Diner.

1,631,719 6/1927 Chandler.

1,833,145 11/1931 Whiiheirrr.

2,110,458 3/1938 App1egere 174-87 2,160,313 5/1939 Nerres 1741*87 2,729,695 1/1956 Preree 174-84 2,774,810 12/1956 Ritter 174- 90 x 3,051,773 8/1962 Bareheuer 174-94 FOREIGN PATENTS 213,753 2/1961 Austria.

JOHN F. BURNS, Primary Examiner.

DARRELL L. CLAY, JOHN P. WILDMAN, E. JAMES SAX, Examiners. 

1. AN ELECTRICAL CONNECTION COMPRISING A WIRE SPLICER CAP WHICH COMPRISES A FLATTENED TUBULAR MEMBER OF FLEXIBLE INSULATING MATERIAL CLOSED AT ONE END, A STRIP OF DUCTILE CONDUCTIVE MATERIAL BENT INTO A SLEEVE ELEMENT POSITIONED AROUND THE INSIDE SURFACE OF SAID TUBULAR MEMBER, SAID SLEEVE ELEMENT HAVING A PLURALITY OF SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL SLITS THEREIN WHICH ARE SPACED FROM EACH OTHER, AND A PLURALITY OF WIRES TO BE CONNECTED HAVING BARED ENDS EXTENDING INTO THE SLEEVE ELEMENT WITHIN THE INSULATING TUBULAR MEMBER IN A DIRECTION SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO THE AXIS OF SAID SLEEVE, SAID CAP AND THE WIRES BEING SHARPLY BENT ALONG A LINE ACROSS THE WIDTH OF SAID CAP AND TRANSVERSE TO THE AXIS OF SAID SLEEVE AND THE LENGTH OF SAID WIRES, A CONCENTRATED HIGH UNIT PRESSURE ELECTRICAL 